Rama Gita Page 1 of 42 Sri Rama Gita This is complete collection of sixty-two verses spoken by Lord Rama to his devoted brother Lakshman are found in Veda Vyasa's Adhyatma Ramayana, in the Uttarakanda as its fifth chapter. It is conceived in the literary style called Pauranic. The text, popularly known as Sri Rama-Gita, is also often described as sruti-sara- sangraha, a brief summary of the very essence of all the Vedas. sri mahadeva uvaca tato jaganmangala mangalatmana vidhaya ramayanakirtimuttamam cacara purvacaritam raghuttamo myatha. Thereafter, the great hero of the Ramayana, the best among the Raghus (cid:150) the glory of the universe ever blessing the world of creatures (cid:150) organized his life into a program of intense tapa, as lived earlier by the royal saints in his own dynasty. Kailasa. Springtime. A dim crescent moon imperceptibly floats against the snowy peaks of the sacred Himalayas. Lord Siva has just emerged out of deep meditation and smiles at his devoted consort, Parvati. When Lord Mahadeva is in the higher states of meditation, his consort. Sri Gauri, though ever wedded to him feels out of contact with him. Rare are the moments when the Lord comes down to play in his lower state to contact his greatest devotee and sevika, Sri Parmesvari. Seeing him at a level where she can easily hug his personality and desiring to hold him at that level before he next soars into the Higher. Parvati asks a question regarding a theme that is ever fascinating to Lord Siva (cid:150) the life of Sri Rama. It is well known that in the heart of Siva dwells Rama, and in the heart of Rama Siva is ever present. Perhaps Lord Siva has many a time told the story of Sri Rama to his consort, and she knows very well how dear that theme is to the heart of Mahadeva. So she asks : (cid:147)After making the inhuman sacrifice at the altar of his royal duty as a king and after deserting his pregnant and innocent queen Sita near the ashram of Valmiki, how did Rama continue his life ?(cid:148) As king, Rama had to attend to his administrative duties and live in is luxurious palace, surrounded by his ministers and courtiers. Physically, he had to live as if nothing had happened. The foolish demand of the people had been fulfilled, and the spirit of democracy had been maintained. The inquisitive Mother of the Universe wants to know from Lord Siva the life-style that Rama adopted after this terrible personal tragedy. It is under these circumstancs that the facile pen of Vyasa set to work. The fifth chapter of his Adhyatma Ramayana contains the exquisite Vedantic poem called Sri Ram Gita, which holds Lord Siva(cid:146)s answer to his consort(cid:146)s question : Prompted by Parvati(cid:146)s inquiry, Siva with an irresistible enthusiasm, eloquently explains that in the midst of the luxurious life at his palace in Ayodhya, Rama lived in total penance (tapas), just as his ancestors had lived, and earned the worthy title of (cid:147)royal saint(cid:148) (raja rsi). Rama, popularly known as Ramacandra, was the son of dasaratha. Rama(cid:146)s name derives from the Sanskrit rama, which means (cid:147)that which revels in every form.(cid:148) (ramate sarva bhutesu, sthavaresu caresu ca) (cid:147)that(cid:148) being the Self, the higher Reality in us. Text II http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 2 of 42 saumitrina prsta udarabuddhina ramah kathah praha puratanih subhah ramah kathah praha puratanih subhah rajnah pramattasya nrgasya sapato dvijasya tiryaktvamathaha raghavah. At the request of the large-hearted Laksmana, son of Samitra, Rama told him many gracious and ancient stories, such as the story of the in advertent King Nrga, who, when cursed by a brahmin, became a chameleon. Continuing, Lord Mahadeva, as though seeing in his mental vision the scene in the palace, describes how Rama told his beloved brother many ancient stories, emphasizing the right values of life and the tremendous pit-falls and unavoidable injustices one is compelled to suffer in the world of plurality. In the present state of consciousness, life around him can never be without its contradictions, confusions, and compelling compromises. Truth in all its glory and purity can be lived only in the higher planes of consciousness. Rama seems to have emphasized the story of King Nrga. It was ridiculously unjust. The sufferer was totally innocent. Yet, he had to live and suffer: King Nrga, on all auspicious occasions, would invite many learned pundits and poor brahmins and distribute cattle to them. (In those days, before the existence of money, cattle was wealth.) One old brahmin also received some cattle as a gift. Somehow, one of the cows in his share strayed away from the herd and instinctively mingled with the thousands of cattle in the king(cid:146)s herd. On the next auspicious occasion, the king again away cattle to the poor, and it so happened that the cow that was given to the brahmin and had strayed away and later returned to the king(cid:146)s herd was again part of the king(cid:146)s gift, this time to a new recipient. This was a totally unintentional mistake, but the old brahmin was not forgiving, and the king was cursed to become a chameleon. The story has an intimate reference to the immediate personal suffering of Sri Rama, although it is not clear whether Laksmana received the message. Through stories such as this, elementary students of Vedanta are trained to recognize, appreciate, and come to live the nobler values of life. Everywhere, value-oriented educational systems best follow this technique; there is no other way in which we can impart healthy moral values to the growing generation. Values and principles of living are too subtle for a young mind that does not have thorough schooling in the experiences of life. But when these subtle values of life are concretized in the form of stories, they are readily taken in, easily digested, fully assimilated, and comfortably absorbed by the student. Text III kadacidekanta upasthitam prabhum ramam ramalalitapadapankajam saumitrirasaditasuddhabhsvanah pranamya bhaktya vinayanvito (cid:145)bravit Upon seeing Lord Ramacandra, (who is none other than Lord Visnu), whose feet are everadored and served by, Laksmi, sitting all alone, Laksmana, the son of Sumitra, whose heart was extremely purified (through selfless service), after prostrating to the Lord in deep devotion, humbly asked : One day, free from administrative duties and programs of his severe spiritual sadhana, Rama was sitting relaxed under a tree in the garden, all alone, listening to the noisy orchestra of birds gathering to roost upon the trees for the night, when his brother Laksmana approached him. http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 3 of 42 After fourteen years of a perfect life of self-control, every moment of which was spent in selfless service to Rama and his life(cid:146)s work, the spiritual seeker Laksmana has already gained a steady mind, undisturbed by the pressure of vasanas in him. A mind that has been thus steadied is an instrument fit for seeking the spiritual dimension of life through contemplation. The brother did not dash into the presence of Rama shouting a cheery (cid:147)Hi!(cid:148) as a loving brother would, but he approached Sri Rama as a devoted disciple should. With great reverence and humility., surrendering himself to the Lord(cid:146)s gracious will, humble and dedicated, the devotee in him asked Sri Rama. Text IV tvam suddhabodho (cid:145)si hi sarvadehina (cid:150)matmasyadhiso(cid:146)so nirakrtih svayam pratiyase jnanadrsam mahamate padabjbhrngahitasangasanginam. O wise one ! You are, indeed, pure Knowledge, the Self of all beings, the Lord of all, but in Yourself Yo are formless, You are seen by those men who are endowed with the eye of wisdom and are attached to the company of Your devotees who court Your lotus feet, like the bees. Laksmana was not considering Rama as a physical entity, who has relationships qualities. Sri Rama, the great warrior, the benevolent king on the throne of Ayodhya, was Laksmana(cid:146)s own blood brother, now living in dignified sorrow at his tragic bereavement. But Laksmana had penetrated deeper than this superficial person, the delusory name and form, and in his devoted heart recognized the inner spiritual significance of Sri Rama, the paramatman, the supreme Self. He not only recognized it, but he openly acknowledged it and declared : (cid:147)You are nothing but the pure light of Consciousness in which Knowledge (cid:150) not knowledge of something, but pure Knowledge in the light of which all other knowledges are rendered possible.(cid:148) This seat of Consciousness is the flame of life, the enlivening Presence in the heart of all living beings, the one Self in all. So long as Consciousness is present in us, our sense organs, mind, and intellect function. This Self enlivens everything. Where Consciousness is not, all physical, mental, intellectual, and even our spiritual activities cease to be, and hence Consciousness is the sole proprietor, owner, master, and boss of the universe. It is the supreme Lord of the world vividly throbbing in the fields of time and space. Laksmana was saying to Rama: (cid:147)In your essential nature, as the supreme Consciousness, you are formless.(cid:148) Form is possible only to the limited. When something is conditioned by something else, it possesses a form. Space, being all- pervading, has no form. Pure Consciousness, being beyond the body, mind, and intellect equipments, is deconditioned from everything, and therefore this unconditioned Self can only be formless. The Laksmana continued: (cid:147) Yet, as those who are ever devoted to you (Rama) gather mental purity, they come to apprehend your true spiritual nature, arriving at the state of Knowledge (jnana). The dreamer in the dream state apprehends the dream; the sleeper in the sleep state apprehends sleep; the spiritual seeker in the spiritual state apprehends the pure spirit (jnana darsana).(cid:148) As a result of steady contemplation upon the deep significance of the great statements such as (cid:147)That thou art.(cid:148) the mind leaves all its preoccupations with its familiar world of objects, emotions, and thoughts and starts exclusively http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 4 of 42 contemplating upon Brahman. This state of mind unfolds a unique faculty of perception (cid:150) the eye of wisdom (cid:150) with which the seeker (cid:147)perceives(cid:148) the state of the pure Self, which is Sri Rama(cid:146)s real nature. Text V aham prapanno(cid:146)smi padambujam prabho bhavapavargam tava yogibhavitam yathanjasajnanamaparavaridhim sukham tarisyami tathanusadhi mam O Lord ! I am surrendering at Your lotus feet, upon which yogis contemplate and which can liberate one from the bondage of time. Please teach me the quickest means by which I can cross the shoreless ocean of ignorance, comfortably. The previous verse declared the student(cid:146)s acceptance of the teacher as more than a mere person or individual: he recognized in him the very presence of the infinite Self. This kind of a glorification of the teacher is beneficial to the student because the physical presence of the teacher becomes to him a symbol to remind him of the final goal and destination,, the Self. Secondly, it also turns the teacher(cid:146)s beam of special attention upon the student. Thus, a mutual tuning-in can be brought about between the teacher and the taught for ready and easy communication. In the Indian tradition, extreme importance is given to showing respect and reverence at the feet of the Lord, and again at the feet of those we love and respect (cid:150) (cid:147)touching the feet(cid:148) of the elders. The teacher stands rooted in Truth. Since the student cannot directly reach this subtle and transcendental Reality, the best he can do is worship the Truth upon a symbol nearest to it, the teacher(cid:146)s feet, upon which he stands, just as he stands rooted in Truth. Sri Rama(cid:146)s feet are the object of contemplation of every devoted seeker, every developed spiritual seeker in his seat of meditation. Time is the medium in which the world of plurality comes to play. The equipments of experience, the body-mind-intellect; our fields of experience, objects-emotions- thoughts; and even the very experience, the perceiver-feeler-thinker, all exist and function in time, Time is ever changing, and therefore everything in time must also constantly change. Caught up in the present state of consciousness as we are, we can exist and function only in the realm of time in the world of change. Nothing is permanent; every experience is ephemeral. Thus, our individual selves are tossed about mercilessly in this endless tide of time. To establish ourselves in the contemplation upon the Lord(cid:146)s feet is to enter into a harbor safely away from the tyranny of time. Laksmana, the student and disciple, after surrendering thus to Rama, his teacher, demanded knowledge and help. He wanted to know what is the quickest means for going beyond the ocean of ignorance. It is a trick of the human mind (cid:150) perceptible everywhere and to everyone (cid:150) that when we don(cid:146)t know the real nature of something, in our nonapprehension our minds project a newly created reality, and we experience misapprehensions. On a dark, moonless night, when we come across a misshapen post at the roadside, we may not apprehend it properly in the dim light and therefore convince ourselves that we are seeing a ghost: the nonapprehension of the post gives rise to the misapprehension of a grinning, frightening ghost. The noapprehension of Reality given us the misapprehension that we are the limited, tired, sorrowful individual (ego). This nonapprehension of Reality and the consequent misapprehensions of the same are together termed ignorance (ajnana) in the subjective science of Vedanta. http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 5 of 42 Laksmana has pointedly asked what is the quickest means by which one can cross over this shoreless ocean of ignorance, comfortably and effortlessly (sukham). (cid:147)Teach me that path, instruct me upon this secret means, guide me. O Teacher, to the yonder shores of this boundless state of ignorance.(cid:148) English Wording: srutvatha saumitrivaco (cid:145)khilam tada praha prapannartiharah prasannadhih vijnanamajnanatamahprasantaye srutiprapannam ksitipalabhusanah Then, having heard all that Laksmana had said, Sri Rama(cid:150) the serene jewel of royal kings, who destroys all sorrows of those who surrender to him (cid:150) gave out to Laksmana, who was eager to listen, the Knowledge, for dispelling the darkness of ignorance. Every teacher becomes extremely happy and enthusiastic when he recognizes the glory, ripeness, and devotion in a student(cid:146)s heart. The guru in Rama finds an ideal disciple in Laksmana, an therefore he declares pure Knowledge as the most direct means to end ignorance. The teacher represents the infinite Self; to contemplate and meditate upon Him and thus come to surrender to Him is to end all miseries felt by the ego in its own limitations. The knowledge that Rama imparts to Laksmana is not anything new or original. It is the very knowledge declared in the ancient Upanisads by the masters of yore. According to the Vedic tradition, once the seeker has purified the mind and intellect and gained a steady consistency in thinking, he or she must strive to employ the mind in a mood of unwavering contemplation, analyzing and discovering the total identity of the essence behind both the individuality (jivatma) and the universal Self (Paramatma). Knowledge then becomes both the means and the goal. Knowledge gathered from the Upanisads (jnana) takes us to a direct spiritual apprehension of the higher state called vijnana. To gain this direct spiritual apprehension of Truth is the last leap of the limited to reach the Unlimited, for the finite to experience the Infinite, for the mortal to arrive at the state of Immortality. Text VII adau svavarnasramavarnitah kriyah krtva samasaditasuddhamanasah samapya tatpurvamupattasadhanah samasrayetsadgurumatmalabdhaye First of all, after we have performed all the obligatory duties required of us due to our position in society (varna) and status in life (asrama), and thereby have gained a purified mind, we should give up all these earlier karmas, and thus endowed with the necessary qualifications, we must surrender totally to the teacher in order to attain the Self. The great rishis of yore have prescribed to the individual in the community certain irrevocable duties in his or her social life, and these are prescribed with an eye to the status of the individual in the society (varna) and the stage of life he or she is in (asrama). When these obligatory duties are performed without any anxieties for their fruits, they tend to exhaust th vasanas and bring the mind to a quiet, vigilant, and alert composure, ready for study and contemplation. With such sensitive equipment, the student must arrive at the feet of the reacher in order to gain the maximum in his or her interaction with the teacher(cid:146)s words. Text VIII http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 6 of 42 kriya sarirodbhavaheturadrta priyapriyau tau bhavatah suraginah dharmetarau tatra punah sarirakam punah kriya cakravadiryate bhavah. Action is considered to be the cause for the manifested body. He who is extremely attached to the body performs both desirable and undesirable actions, which create dharma and adharma (that produce joy and sorrow), giving rise to another body by which more actions are performed. Thus, like a wheel, nonstop runs the procession of briths and deaths (cid:150) samsara. Rama is not going to mince words, because the disciple in front of him is fully matured. The teacher in Rama ruthlessly dissects the nature of work and convincingly points out that through work we can never reach the absolute state of inner poise, the Self. Work can only produce yet another lease in the world, with the body as the harvester of the experience in duality. Confrontation of the body, mind, and intellect with the world of objects, emotions, and thoughts is called work. All such physical, mental, and intellectual encounters leave tendencies, called vasanas, as their end result in the doer(cid:146)s personality. These tendencies try to express and exhaust themselves in similar actions. Those who are striving in the outer world, prompted by their own desire to fulfill their likes and dislikes, come to experience ephemeral moments of exciting pleasure and flashes of painful sorrow. Righteous actions are those in which our selfishness is at a bare minimum; unrighteous actions are those prompted largely by blind selfishness. These good and bad action necessarily create moments of joy and regrettable moments of tearful sorrow. The good and bad karmas generate positive and negative tendencies (vasanas). In order to work them out of our system, we have to take an appropriate body-form and manifest ourselves in a conducive environment. In short, the present is a product of the past, with past karmas providing the blueprint for the present. The future is never a mere continuum of the past; the past is remolded under the pressure of present activities and thoughts. Thus, work can only guarantee continuation in the field of plurality in an endless array of lives, with different forms functioning in different environments. Actions create vasanas; vasnas mature and become impatient to express and exhaust themselves; and, for this, new forms and new environments may be needed. Work, however sacred and noble it may be, can only yield for us relatively good and bad experiences, never total liberation from the realm of time and space to reach the timeless Essence divine. Text IX ajnanamevasya hi mulakaranam tadhanamevatra vidhau vidhiyate vidyaiva tannasavidhau patiyasi na karma tajjam savirodhamiritam The root cause for this samasara is ignorance; naturally, its destruction here is the sole remedy prescribed by scriptural injunction or teaching. Knowledge alone is efficient in destroying that ignorance, never karma (work); for work is said to be the product of ignorance and hence not opposed to it. The nonapprehension of Reality creates the misapprehension in us that we are limited entities, helplessly panting to seek our fulfillment and total satisfaction from the world of plurality; hence our exhausting and fatiguing work (cid:150) sweating labor whipped up by our desires, anxieties, and worries. http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 7 of 42 Apprehension of Reality, knowledge, alone can be the efficient antidote to remove our misapprehensions, ignorance. When the individual awakens to the higher state of Consciousness, the sense of individuality and its world of experience, physical, mental, and intellectual, roll away, just as a dream rolls away on awakening. Karma (work), however noble, cannot end this subjective ignorance, because all actions are undertaken by the individual in the context of his or her misapprehensions. In short, work is a product of ignorance, and it cannot destroy its own cause. Symptoms cannot destroy the disease : Text X najnanahanirna ca ragasanksayo bhavettatah karma sadosamudhavet tatah punah samsrtirapyavarita tasmadbudho jnanavicaravanbhavet. English Meaning: Work cannot end ignorance nor reduce one(cid:146)s attachment to the fruits of action; on the other hand, from such karmas new, evil (binding) karmas arise, because of which samsara also becomes unavoidable. Therefore, a wise seeker should inquire into and contemplate upon the nature of Knowledge (cid:150) Reality. Karma cannot ever destroy spiritual ignorance. Here, ignorance may be considered as the product of ignorance, the ego the sense of limited individuality (the perceiver- feeler-thinker). The sense of doership cannot be totally eliminated from the field of work. In fact, no matter how alert we may be in our work can only fatten the sense of doership in us. So long as the individual functions with a arrogant conviction of doership, he cannot stand divorced from the desire to enjoy the fruits of his actions. Doership and enjoyership go together, and this is called the ego. Both these misapprehensions cannot be ended through work. Work can only produce its reward, which is to open up for us fresh fields of undertaking and to provide the appropriate equipment to function in those fields. Work creates tendencies, vasanas, which seek their exhaustion through further work, for which, unavoidably, we will have to move from one field of work to another within the span of this life, and move from one body to another after death. Sir Rama therefore concludes with the idea that the wise seeker, after purifying his or her vasanas through selfless work, undertaken in a loving spirit of dedication, (cid:147)must begin to contemplate upon the nature of Reality.(cid:148) To analyze and to deeply and consistently ponder over the great statements such as (cid:147)That thou art(cid:148) is the way of knowledge, the path of jnana, which is to be diligently pursued. However great and holy the work be, it cannot produce the Reality ever present in every one of us. Selfless work undertaken with love and devotion to the Lord and to our fellow man can indeed, chasten our vasanas; and when noble (sattvic) vasanas become predominent in us, our mental and intellectual extrovertedness is slowly eliminated. Our thoughts learn how to become quiet, alert, and vigilant. Such a purified heart will have the necessary poise for steady contemplation upon the nature of Reality, the Self. As we practice, we become more and more dexterous in maintaining ourselves steadily in the mood of contemplation and a state of ever- expanding joy. This verse becomes, a it were, an introduction to the text. The teacher has judged his student rightly that he has practiced karmayoga (the path of dedicated action) sufficiently long, purifying his mind in the process, and for such a student to walk http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 8 of 42 onto the path of contemplation is the next step. Due to its attachment to the teacher, a child refuses to move on to his new classroom, even though he has been promoted to the next grade. Then the parents have to intercede in order to persuade the child and if need be to use the required amount of compulsion, until the child becomes familiar with his new teacher and gathers new friends. Similarly, the spiritual teacher has to slowly persuade his students to leave their fields to work for the seat of contemplation. It has to be done very carefully. To break faith is easy; to create faith is almost impossible. Sri Ramcandra seems to have known Laksmana(cid:146)s heart through and through; therefore, with a surprising abruptness, he bombshells him with an uncompromising declaration that karma can never release our personality from it misapprehensions : (cid:147)Knowledge alone can end ignorance; karma is but the product of ignorance.(cid:148) English Wording: nanu kriya vedamukhena codita tathaiva vidya purusarthasadhanam kartavyata pranabhrtah pracodita vidyasahayatvamupaiti sa punah Just as the Vedas declare that knowledge is the means for attaining the ultimate goal, with the same emphasis the Vedas also prescribe karmas. Moreover, the karmas prescribed are compulsory for a living being. Therefore, these karmas can be complementary to the path of knowledge. In order to derive home the conviction to the student, Rama here repeats the arguments of others and answers them himself. The ritualists argue that not only the path of contemplation is prescribed by the Vedas, but that the very same Veda has commanded that karma should be done. Thus, Veda-prescribed karmas must be undertaken along with the practice of contemplation for the final liberation. The argument has legs, because the Veda has an unquestioned authority in spiritual matters. Text XII English Wording: karmakrtau dosamapi srutirjagau tasmatsada karyamidam mumuksuna nanu svatantra dhruvakaryakarini vidya na kincinmanasapyapeksete. The scriptures have even cautioned that by not doing karma one will incur sin; therefore, the prescribed karma. In case you insist that the path of knowledge is independent and quite efficient in achieving the goal by itself and needs no karma (cid:150) not even in a dream (cid:150) then ... [the argument continues in the next verse]. The opponents continue their arguments. In their eloquence they are not able to stop the flood of their words. If karmas is not done, the default can bring sin and consequent punishment. Not only by commission but also by omission sin can be incurred. Thus the argument that the jnana path needs no karma to complement it is a dangerous lie. These are the words of the Samuccaya Vadins, repeated here by Sri Ramacandra. The teacher in Sri Rama wants his disciple Laksmana to know about the existence of such an argument. Text XIII na satyakaryo(cid:145)pi hi yadvadadhvarah prakanksate(cid:145)nyanapi karakadikan tathaiva vidya vidhitah prakasitair-visisyate karmabhireva muktaye. It is not so. Just as the Vedic rituals, though meritorious in their results, depend upon many accessories such as the doer, and so on, so too the path of knowledge http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 9 of 42 becomes capable of giving liberation with the help of those karmas that are revealed by the Vedic statements. The Vedas describe rituals very elaborately, and eloquently promise rewards for those who follow the strict discipline the rituals require, performing them properly at the right time and place, using the right materials and mantras. Those who support the integral path (Samuccaya Vadins) argue that just as we need many accessories to perform karma properly, so also those who pursue the path of contemplation need the support of the path of karma. Each blesses the other, and the seeker gains his goal. In these three verses the arguments of the Samuccaya Vadins are vigorously paraded. According to them, contemplation and karma must be pursued together. When each strengthens the other, we have a sure means for our personality liberation. The path of knowledge (jnana) is not independent : jnana will fruitfully lead us to the state of spiritual freedom only in combination with karma. These are the arguments of the Samucaya Vadins. Text XIV kecidvadantiti vitarkavadina stadapyasaddrstavirodhakaranat dehabhimanadabhivardhate kriya vidya gatahankrtitah prasidhyati. So argue some men of erroneous logic; but that, indeed, is false because of the obvious contradiction. Action is performed (increases) due to identification with the body, whereas Knowledge is realized at the elimination of the ego, that is, of body identification. Sri Ramacandra, having summarized the arguments of the Samuccaya Vadins, answers them all. With one powerful word he smashes down their array of arguments: he declares their stand as a mere delusion, and then supports his conclusion by showing the inherent weakness in their elaborate arguments. Karma is performed by the ego with noble, not-sonoble, or stark-selfish desires. The ego asserts itself in all karmas. The ego is the doer-experiencer entity in each one of us. Jnana, the path of contemplation, starts when the ego is curbed; in the final stage of the path, the ego disappears totally as we glide into the state of pure Consciousness, the Self. Movement into the state of Self-Awareness is not possible unless we leave the ego of the previous state. The dreamer-ego can never perceive or enter the waking state. The waker-ego must end in sleep. The waker-dreamer- sleeper ego must cease to be when we realize the Self. Therefore, to claim that karma and jnana are to be pursued at one and the same time is a misconception. In the path of karma, the ego must play, while in the path of knowledge, the ego must disappear. These opposed conditions exist in the very working of these two paths. Through karma we gain inner purity, and such a purified mind gains its necessary poise in contemplation. The process of contemplation purifies the mind more and more. The quieter the mind, the more intense becomes the contemplation; the higher the intensity and steadiness of contemplation, the quieter becomes the mind. In this cycle, a state should come when the mind is totally quiet. Thoughtless mind is Brahman, the absolute Self. Karma and Jnana can never be practiced together; they must be taken serially. First, perform karma as a sadhana, then follow the path of contemplation. After realization, again perform karma as a selfless expression of the siddha, a man of wisdom. http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm Rama Gita Page 10 of 42 Text XV visuddhavijnanavirocanancita vidyatmavrttiscarameti bhanyate udeti karmakhilakarakadibhir (cid:150) nihanti vidyakhilakarakadikam The exclusive thought of the Self, arrived at through comtemplation with a purified heart, is called knowledge (vidya). Karma rises from its various (five) causes, while vidya demolishes all these instruments of karma. Sri Ramacandra clearly defines what is meant by the term (cid:147)knowledge. (cid:148)vidya. As a result of exhaustive pondering upon the deep significance of mahavakyas (great spiritual statements) such as (cid:147)That thou art.(cid:148) the student(cid:146)s mind, in deep contemplation, comes to dwell upon the thought of the Self, exclusive of all other thoughts. This thought of the Self dies away by itself on realizing the state of the Self. Just as fire, having consumed the fuel, disappears into its unmanifest or, just as the dreamer and his world of dream merge and disappear upon awakening, so too the ego, as our sense of individuality (ahamkara vrtti), disappears into the experience of the supreme state, Brahmasaksatkra. I and my sole desire to sleep disappear when I enter the deep-sleep state. The (cid:147)dreamer-I(cid:148) and my dream world dissolve and disappear into the (cid:147)waker-I(cid:148) upon awakening. Karma and jnana cannot be lived at one and the same time because of their opposite natures. Karma springs from its unavoidable five essential factors: the body, which is the basis of actions; doership and enjoyership together called the individual; the instruments, the sense organs; the various functions in the body; and the presiding deities of the sense organs, which are the conditions necessary for each sense organ to function efficiently. The path of knowledge has its destination in direct apprehension (jnana), wherein all these factors and the sense of doership end. Thus, because of their essentially contrary natures, karma and jnana can never be practiced at one and the same time by the same seeker (cid:150) as the Samuccaya Vadins recommend and fanatically argue to prove their viewpoint. In this verse, Sri Rama applies an axe to the very root of all the arguments of those who recommend integral yoga. We can pursue a variety of karmayogas (cid:150) service of the people, prayer, worship, and so on. But work and contemplation cannot be pursued at one and the same time. In karma, the mind is active and turned outward into the field work, while in contemplation, the mind(cid:146)s attention is turned away from the outer world, and the mind is exclusively engaged with thoughts of the nature of the Self, seeking to realize the total identity of (cid:147)I(cid:148) (ego) with the divine Self. Text XVI tasmattyajektaryamasesatah sudhir (cid:150) vidyavirodhanna samuccayou bhavet atmanusandhanaparayanah sada nivttasarvendriyavrttigocarah. Therefore, let the pure-hearted learn to drop all activities; as activities are contrary to knowledge, their combination with knowledge is not possible. Quieting all activities of the senses and mind perceptions, one should always be engaged in contemplation upon the Self. Since Samuccaya is not possible, let the one who has purified his heart through http://www.astrojyoti.com/ramagita.htm